LOAKE APPRECIATION THREAD

[WillisAU]

I really appreciate the advice, exactly what I was hoping to hear.
Not sure if it's just me or if it's just the shade variation on the shoes I received, but my Ledburys seem closer to a medium brown than burgundy...and for this pair, I really was looking for more of a brown, not necessarily a true dark brown though. So instead using a red shoe cream, thinking of using dark brown just to get the shade a touch darker.

Care to post any photos of your Ledburys? I havent seen many people with them online

I had a pair of mahogany Aldwych (as seen a few pages ago) and found the colour too light for my liking, closer to Tan than any kind of brown. I really didn't like the way they looked with my navy and charcoal suits (see link below), but that's just my taste, and they would have been okay if a few shades darker like a medium brown. Other shoes in Loake's "mahogany" that I've seen online and in real life have been darker than the ones I received, so there is a variation in production I guess.

mine looked just like this, some might like it but I think it looks a bit daft personally - http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7199/6891243701_b7f0a22c5b.jpg

 

[ajc2162]

Quote: I have the Strands in both burgundy and mahogany and got Loake's burgundy polish; so that was easy. But I struggled like you guys about what to use for the mahogany since (at the time, anyway) there didn't seem to be a specific mahogany polish available. Took a deep breath and settled on Saphir medium brown - and that's turned out fine.

Oh by the way, I find both mahogany and burgundy work well with either navy blue or grey trousers.

I hope that helps a bit.

 

[gatormd]

how does the loake hyde compare to alden barrie last in terms of sizing?

 

[Kevin24]

Just wondering some questions for those who have shopped with Pediwear.

How does Pediwear ship to the US? Do they use DHL or Royal Mail?

They have a deal on Loakes right now where they offer ether free shoe trees or free shipping. I added the free shoe trees to my cart. With the VAT the Plimico chukas I'm looking at came to about $196.00. However, at the final page it all came to about $243.00.

Is that with the customs duty included too? Or with just the shipping?

Also at what price range does US customs start hitting you with duties?

Likewise, are the free shoe trees through Pediwear without or will any old shoe trees do for the Plimicos

 

[Munky]

I don't use red shoe polish on my mahogany shoes very often. It's just that, every so often, it makes the colour 'glow' a bit. Use a darker shade of red rather than a bright one.

Mahogany shoe polish is available. Sapir make two versions of it. Kiwi make mahogany polish. Woly make a Bordeaux. Look out for Burgundy polish, too.

 

[ajc2162]

Thanks for your help, Munky. Kiwi is readily available in Australia so I'll have a look-see.

Funnily enough, Kiwi is an Australian company - due acknowledgement and thanks to Wikipedia for this information

Kiwi is the brand name of a shoe polish, first launched and sold in Australia[1] in 1906 and as of 2005 sold in almost 180 countries. Previously owned by the Sara Lee Corporation since 1984, it was sold in 2011 to S. C. Johnson.[1] It is the dominant shoe polish in some countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States, where it has about two-thirds of the market.
The polish was developed in Australia by William Ramsay who named it Kiwi after the flightless bird endemic to New Zealand, the home country of his wife, Annie Elizabeth Meek Ramsay. Its success in Australia expanded overseas when it was adopted by both the British and American armies in World War I.

 

[smerf]

I don't use red shoe polish on my mahogany shoes very often. It's just that, every so often, it makes the colour 'glow' a bit. Use a darker shade of red rather than a bright one.

Mahogany shoe polish is available. Sapir make two versions of it. Kiwi make mahogany polish. Woly make a Bordeaux. Look out for Burgundy polish, too.

When it comes to shoe polish colour choice then I agree, Saphir is the best. I prefer to use the Swiss brand Burgol though, which has three types of brown shoe polish - light brown, mid-brown (probably the closest to mahogany) and dark brown. There is always cognac shoe cream available from those guys but that's a different shade

 

[smerf]

Thanks for your help, Munky. Kiwi is readily available in Australia so I'll have a look-see.

Funnily enough, Kiwi is an Australian company - due acknowledgement and thanks to Wikipedia for this information

Kiwi is the brand name of a shoe polish, first launched and sold in Australia[1] in 1906 and as of 2005 sold in almost 180 countries. Previously owned by the Sara Lee Corporation since 1984, it was sold in 2011 to S. C. Johnson.[1] It is the dominant shoe polish in some countries, including the United Kingdom and the United States, where it has about two-thirds of the market.
The polish was developed in Australia by William Ramsay who named it Kiwi after the flightless bird endemic to New Zealand, the home country of his wife, Annie Elizabeth Meek Ramsay. Its success in Australia expanded overseas when it was adopted by both the British and American armies in World War I.

ajc2162 - don't use Kiwi, whatever you do. It may be popular and all, but it's not good for your shoes. Saphir and Burgol have natural waxes that protect the shoe leather. Kiwi uses synthetic stuff that can damage it and shorten it's lifetime - not good stuff imo

 

[ajc2162]

Quote:
Thanks for the warning, smerf - that makes sense and I'm happy to follow your advice. I have a few pairs of Loakes (on-line through Shoehealer) and added shoe trees and appropriate Saphir to each order - so I have enough polish to last a long time.

Actually, it doesn't really matter now anyway because I'm another disgruntled customer that Loake has lost due to their recent ban on overseas shipping. I know I can still access Herring's house brands made by Loake, but that's not the point. They've just shifted my focus to their competitors.

Love your blog, by the way - very interesting and thanks for going to the trouble of inputting an English translation.

 

[smerf]

Thanks for the warning, smerf - that makes sense and I'm happy to follow your advice. I have a few pairs of Loakes (on-line through Shoehealer) and added shoe trees and appropriate Saphir to each order - so I have enough polish to last a long time.

Actually, it doesn't really matter now anyway because I'm another disgruntled customer that Loake has lost due to their recent ban on overseas shipping. I know I can still access Herring's house brands made by Loake, but that's not the point. They've just shifted my focus to their competitors.

Love your blog, by the way - very interesting and thanks for going to the trouble of inputting an English translation.

Thank you for your comments ajc2162 The blog's main language is now English so hopefully it will get round to more people If you want you can like my page on facebook to keep updated in my signature below
Before buying my first pair of handmade shoes I was considering Loake - mostly because of the price but found out that apparently they make their cheaper lines in India somewhere so let it go and unfortunately I was never their customer. I made the choice of going for the Spanish handmade shoes like Crownhill and Berwick - they may not be as popular and well-known but I'm really happy with them still ^^

When it comes to English handmade shoes though, Barker are probably my top choice because of the rosewood brown leather they offer and probably because Church's - the superb alternative was purchased by Prada, which apparently led to worse quality shoes

 

[th6252]



Care to post any photos of your Ledburys? I havent seen many people with them online

I had a pair of mahogany Aldwych (as seen a few pages ago) and found the colour too light for my liking, closer to Tan than any kind of brown.  I really didn't like the way they looked with my navy and charcoal suits (see link below), but that's just my taste, and they would have been okay if a few shades darker like a medium brown.  Other shoes in Loake's "mahogany" that I've seen online and in real life have been darker than the ones I received, so there is a variation in production I guess. 

mine looked just like this, some might like it but I think it looks a bit daft personally - http://farm8.staticflickr.com/7199/6891243701_b7f0a22c5b.jpg 

Sure thing when I get the chance to snap some pics in decent sunlight.

 

[Munky]

Sorry, guys, I made a mistake. For some reason, I mixed up mahogany with burgundy. I have two pairs of burgundy shoes (Strands and Herring Chaucer 11's). I have one pair of mahogany shoes (by Sanders), The Sanders ones came with a pot of mahogany cream.

I use burgundy polish on the burgundy shoes but, clearly, don't use brown polish on them. The burgundies are the ones that, once in a while, I put dark red polish on.

I hope this sorts things out and apologies, again, for my getting mixed up!

Munky

 

[smerf]



Sorry, guys, I made a mistake. For some reason, I mixed up mahogany with burgundy.  I have two pairs of burgundy shoes (Strands and Herring Chaucer 11's).  I have one pair of mahogany shoes (by Sanders),  The Sanders ones came with a pot of mahogany cream. 

I use burgundy polish on the burgundy shoes but, clearly, don't use brown polish on them. The burgundies  are the ones that, once in a while, I put dark red polish on. 

I hope this sorts things out and apologies, again, for my getting mixed up!

Munky

No worries Munky, it happens

Do you still use the Saphir burgundy polish though? What do you think of it?

 

[Munky]

No worries Munky, it happens

Do you still use the Saphir burgundy polish though? What do you think of it?

Saphir Burgundy is a very good polish, as are all of Saphir's products that i have tried. I am allergic to turpentine, though and can only use their polish out of doors. As you know, the weather hasn't been too good for the last few months, so this hasn't been possible! I mostly use KlenKaren products, these days which contain 'natural' products and no turpentine.

I just lined up Saphir burgundy next to their Mahogany and there isn't a huge amount of difference between the two. Both have a reddish tint. This may be this was the cause of my confusion. Or perhaps it was just old age.

I do not use polishes so much these days and rely mostly on brushing. I don't use wax at all.

Best wishes
Munky

 

[smerf]

Saphir Burgundy is a very good polish, as are all of Saphir's products that i have tried. I am allergic to turpentine, though and can only use their polish out of doors. As you know, the weather hasn't been too good for the last few months, so this hasn't been possible! I mostly use KlenKaren products, these days which contain 'natural' products and no turpentine.

I just lined up Saphir burgundy next to their Mahogany and there isn't a huge amount of difference between the two. Both have a reddish tint. This may be this was the cause of my confusion. Or perhaps it was just old age.

I do not use polishes so much these days and rely mostly on brushing. I don't use wax at all.

Best wishes
Munky

I also have the Saphir Bordeaux wax polish (burgundy) and have to disagree with you here: the polish seems to contain more purple than red but I may have been deceived by my shoe project. Basically, I decided that I didn't like my burgundy shoes and came up with the wild idea to make them look purple. The customer service at one of the online retailers selling Saphir recommended to just use the bordeaux paste because it was "really rich in purple".

I purchased the polish (both shoe cream and wax polish) and gave the shoes a few polishes. Nothing changed - the shoes were still the same colour - burgundy with more purple than red though. I was unhappy so purchased Saphir Renomat and washed the wax polish off (it began to flake).

Then I purchased Saphir Beaute de Cuir lilac shoe cream which instead stained the shoes in areas and the purpleness became patchy. I was pretty annoyed by then because patchy purple looked very very bad.

In the end, I washed off the shoe cream with Renomat two or three times and used Saphir Teinture Francaise to paint them a purple colour. The project gave me fantastic results and I am really happy with Saphir Teinture Francaise - it's an excellent dye. I plan to post pictures and a detailed commentary of the project on my blog in the near future but at the moment I'm working on another post about my first Goodyear welted shoes from Berwick.

I guess because of the staining and flaking I grew a natural resentment to Saphir, although their products are fantastic I have to say. The whole situation was probably a cause of lack of knowledge and experience in shoes, but the whole shoe adventure came to a happy end At the moment I prefer to stay off of Saphir (I only use the lilac shoe cream for the purple painted shoes which doesn't stain no more) and have began using the Swiss brand Burgol which I came across at when visiting the Shoepassion store in Warsaw, Poland. It's a great polish and I'm not planning on going back to Saphir

It seems that the Bordeaux / burgundy polish from Burgol is much more red than the one from Saphir and that's something that I also embrace. A good alternative too